Always Be Clear, We Follow An India-First Policy: EAM Jaishankar

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that it should always be clear that the current government follows an 'India first' policy.

“We should always be clear that we follow an India first policy. The test of any decision would eventually be what should be our national interest,” EAM Jaishankar said during an interview with DD India on '12 years of Foreign Policy'. He also noted that a "big part" of diplomacy today is how to have an optimal positioning among the major powers, which is a very complex and not an easy thing to do.

Replying to questions about recalibrations in relation to China and the US, EAM Jaishankar noted that“the United States today very openly says that, look, we follow an America First policy. Now, I think from our side, quite independently of what the US does, I think we should always be clear that we follow an India first policy.”

He mentioned that the US has changed its terms of engagement with the world in a variety of ways but it did not affect India in many ways directly,“because we are not a member of NATO”.

He also noted that everybody was affected by tariffs, market access issues and certain positions and postures of the United States to multilateral organisations, regional issues, etc.

Regarding China, he said,“We went through a difficult period starting with 2020, when peace and tranquillity in the border areas were disturbed, but in the last year, I think things have settled down. Things have settled down politically between us to a considerable degree. I would not say it has gone back to where it was.”

He mentioned that relationships with Russia and Japan remained steady, and the relationship with Europe has improved a lot this year.

“The most notable in all our diplomatic accounts, where has been the biggest improvement, I would say without question, it is in Europe, the FTA (Free Trade Agreement), the strategic relationship, partnership that we have, really created a new, much closer template for cooperation,” the EAM said.

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